


Learning to Run

by YupThatsMySock



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/M, Romance, Slow Build, The little mermaid - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-04
Updated: 2013-12-04
Packaged: 2018-01-03 10:43:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1069525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YupThatsMySock/pseuds/YupThatsMySock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hatake Kakashi was a man of routine.<br/>Past tense. Was.<br/>Ever since he helped a young, mute woman he found unconscious on the beach, it seems the structured dollhouse world he'd constructed has been thrown into utter disarray.<br/>As he cares for the young woman he discovers her secret: she has to find someone, and if that someone is not found within the next six months, she'll turn into the water from which she came.<br/>It sounds like fantastical nonsense to him, but to her, it's life and death, and part of her survival depends on Kakashi himself.<br/>Kakashi soon learns it's not wise to stop a mermaid with an ultimatum. All you can do is teach her how to walk.<br/>But teaching someone to walk is easy. It's teaching someone to run that's impossible- they have to understand it on their own.</p><p>The Little Mermaid AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Librarian and the Sea Maiden

**Author's Note:**

> Have mercy, I started writing this when I was 16 and dropped off the map with it for about two years. I'm going to pick it back up again.

Hatake Kakashi liked routines. He wasn't too fond of change, though he accepted that it was a natural part of life and no matter how much he wanted things to stay the same, they most likely would not.

However, he managed to maintain a rather structured, routine-led life, to his satisfaction. He wasn't too strict in how things occurred—again, he realized he couldn't help it sometimes—but he did follow a certain schedule that he would not allow to vary: every morning at four sharp, he got out of bed, helped himself to bread and tea, and was out the door by four-thirty to go fishing. If he was lucky and caught something, he would be back by six or so to prepare for the day. He would attempt to wake the raven-haired teenager who slept in the room across the small hallway from his, get a little more food, attempt to wake the boy again, get dressed and ready to go, then force the young man out of bed with threats of kicking him out, though he was too kind-hearted to anyway.

From there the routine would continue as usual: he would bid farewell to Sasuke the tenant, who would owlishly glare at the older man for getting him out of bed, then head his way over to the small library that was given to him by his late father. He was at the library by seven sharp, unlocking the doors and preparing by putting back some of the books returned late at night. He would make sure everything was in order, and then—at eight promptly—Kakashi opened the library.

It would be around eight-fifteen or so that Naruto would blearily stumble in, his woven bag with his lunch draped over his shoulder, typically clutching some kind of pastry that Sasuke would sneak him in the mornings. The energetic blond wasn't quite so lively in the morning and often required the moody baker's apprentice to give him the sugar high he needed to get started. Kakashi would affectionately say hello to his semi-conscious employee, wait for the sugar to kick in, then have him help him with chores Kakashi didn't want to take care of himself, be it shelving books, dusting windowpanes, or the daily nuisance of organizing the catalog, which fell into disarray frequently.

The day would officially start around nine, when people started to mill in. Often scholars from the palace would wander in, borrowing books or finding a table to write at. Kakashi was aware of the duties of these people; everything from re-cataloging to copying manuscripts to researching, and he was more than happy to have them there, even if they were there until closing time.

Twelve-thirty would come quickly and, because it was their slowest time of day, Kakashi would take over for Naruto, who would grab his favorite window table and dig out his lunch. Sakura, Naruto's intelligent and independent friend, would arrive within a few minutes toting her own meal and would happily join the blond, sometimes swapping foodstuffs and even sharing dishes. Sasuke, looking exhausted, would appear but only for a short time, as lunchtime was the busiest time of day for him, bringing a basket of a few small rolls and usually some kind of pastry for Sakura and Naruto's enjoyment. They would always beg him to stay a little longer, and he would always shrug his dissent, giving them a small wave as he disappeared out the door to return to the bakery. Lunch would last forty minutes for Naruto but only thirty for Sakura, who was on a less lax schedule than her friend. Before she left, though, she'd find Kakashi, wish him a good day and thank him for letting her spend lunch in the library, then give him a poultice for his hands, which often became sore and raw from fishing, a medicine he applied daily. Sakura herself made the poultice, as she worked as apprentice to the village's doctor and mayor, Tsunade, the great granddaughter of the first mayor. Sakura frequented the library on the weekends, poring over medical documents and heavy books full of jargon only she and Tsunade could understand.

Closing time was at six, and at around five forty-five Naruto would begin to shoo out the people still in there. Kakashi would put back books, straighten up tables, and finish up his work until six-fifteen; then, he let Naruto leave and locked the door to head home.

If he hadn't caught anything, he would stop by the butcher's, but he always went to the baker's to pick up a fresh loaf of bread, indulging himself with a muffin every so often, and saying a quick hello to Sasuke if he had time. Most often, he didn't—the young man had a gift for perfect pastries, it seemed, and spent his time in the back, icing cakes or applying sugar to Danishes.

Kakashi would head home to his small house on the Cliffside, getting a nice fire going inside and preparing dinner by seven. Dinner was usually ready by seven-thirty or eight, depending on what he was making, and he always made sure to save a little for Sasuke, who arrived home at about nine. Kakashi would allow himself sufficient time to enjoy his meal, then would settle on the couch to read for a while, reading a chapter a night, two chapters if he reached a cliffhanger and had to keep going. He would be in bed by ten after putting out the fire and cleaning up his dishes. He was usually asleep by ten-fifteen; a little later if he was still thinking about his book or the day's events.

Hatake Kakashi was a man of routine, and he liked it that way. He was private and introverted, but fairly friendly and well liked in town. People weren't even bothered by his mask anymore, and they knew not to poke around in the quiet man's personal life. He had many friends and even more acquaintances, but only a few he could call dear to his heart. He wasn't lonely or bored; on the contrary, he liked things just the way they were and accepted that he would probably never have much more than this. It wasn't like he wanted more anyhow.

* * *

Routines get thrown out of order sometimes, whether one likes it or not, and that's just what happened to Hatake Kakashi. It wasn't when he "least expected it", per se, as he never expected anything out of the ordinary to happen in the first place, but it was definitely a surprise to him, and not altogether a pleasant one.

His internal clock woke him at four sharp on February twentieth, a chilly Tuesday morning. The February gloom was usually tangible, but a deeper sniff and Kakashi's natural seafaring man's sense told him it was bad weather out.

He stretched his arms above his head, feeling his back crack in a few places. The small house was still dark as he wandered towards the kitchen. He lit the potbelly stove in the corner, putting a piece of bread with cheese in, and put the kettle on to make himself some tea. He started a small blaze in the fireplace, feeling the warmth begin to seep out and dispel the cold and gloom. He knew Sasuke would appreciate that.

Kakashi pulled back the curtain on one of the windows and peered outside. It was pouring rain, much to his disappointment, and the sea was heaving and roiling as if furious. Kakashi had lived in the seaside village since birth and knew that it was a treacherous time; he would not be fishing today. The most he could do was put on his rainclothes and wander along the shore in search of smaller fish that had washed up.

The kettle gave a quiet whistle and Kakashi peered over his shoulder at the teapot, chewing on his lip, debating whether to drink now or wait until after he came in, when he would want the warmth of tea to permeate through him. At the smell of his bread toasting, he decided to leave the tea for later and took the kettle off the burner. He grabbed a small wooden plate for his bread and pulled his breakfast from the belly of the stove. The bread was crisp on both sides, with the cheese melting nicely across the top and the inside still soft. Kakashi sat and enjoyed his breakfast while listening to the sounds of the tempestuous ocean thundering against the shore.

A particularly rattling thunderclap seemed to shake the little house to its core. Kakashi glanced at the window and decided that it was time to go out before it got any worse. He grabbed his net and his harpoon and was just about to leave when Sasuke shuffled from his bedroom, muttering, "…'S really loud out."

"Well. It  _is_  storming."

Sasuke sent him a rather acidic look. "I know. I'm saying I can't sleep now."

"Feel free to brave the elements to catch fish," Kakashi offered the youth, holding up his net to show him.

Sasuke looked less than thrilled and didn't answer, just meandered over to the fireplace and plopped himself in front of it. "Hand me a pillow?"

Kakashi obliged, going over to the couch tossing the boy a cushion. "I'll be back by six," he said.

"Will you be all right here on your own?"

Sasuke snorted, snatching an afghan off the chair and curling up in a ball in front of the fire.

Kakashi smiled faintly under his mask. The boy would never admit it but Kakashi knew that since his abandonment by his brother, Sasuke disliked being on his own.

Kakashi headed out of the safety of his house and into the storm, treading carefully down the cliffside and down to the sea.

He found a few fish, freshly dead, along the shoreline where the waves were crashing. He quickly stabbed them and pulled them up into the net, which he folded over to make a bag.

He glanced out at the ocean and the bruise-colored sky. He was mildly surprised; the weather yesterday had not hinted at a storm in the least. He was usually very good at telling these things.  _Maybe I'm getting old_ , he thought.  _But I'm not even thirty yet_ …

It was during this thought that something caught his eye several hundred meters along the shore, the waves throwing themselves upon it mercilessly. Kakashi squinted past the rain.

It was a body.

Kakashi, by nature, was not one to panic easily, but he came pretty damn close.

He froze, water rushing up against his boots, and then he broke into a run, mind racing.

_What do I do if they're dead? No, the ocean can always take them back, but I think the more concerning question is what do I do if they're ALIVE? Then I could have quite a mess on my hands…_

He slowed as he neared the figure and was surprised to see that it was a female. This was not nearly as alarming as the fact that she was completely unclothed.

Kakashi turned around. He couldn't remember the last time he saw a naked girl. The thought was borderline amusing—You've lost your touch, he thought—but it was also mildly worrying. Slowly, he shrugged off his coat, unhappy at how the rain now soaked through his shirt, and turned around to face the girl again.

From the cursory glance he gave her, trying not to focus on any one body part (Kakashi was a man who liked to have his privacy respected so, in turn, reciprocated for others' sakes), he gathered that she was of medium to slightly tall height, had no noticeable, sultry curves to speak of, and was rather fair-skinned to the point where it almost seemed unhealthy. He tossed his coat over her as quickly as he could, feeling slightly embarrassed as he wrapped the coat around her limp frame.

He gently pulled a long arm from underneath the jacket and felt for a pulse on her wrist. She arms were slender and her wrist bony, he noticed, and he was able to easily wrap his hand around it. He noticed on her skin very faint pink blotches, barely noticeable but still there once you looked. They were almost like tiny spots of scar tissue.

Then he got it—a pulse. Faint, but steady. She was alive.

He slipped her scrawny arm back beneath his coat and focused on her face as he wrapped the coat around her svelte frame. Overly svelte, he noticed (he couldn't help it—the coat was wet and he was practically juggling a body in his arms).

He examined her and decided that she wasn't unpleasant to look at, but not drop-dead gorgeous by any means. Nice enough, but not someone you'd write a love poem about. Her cheekbones were high and while her jaw and chin weren't strong, they weren't weak either. Her lower lip was fuller than her upper lip and she had a rather nice cupid's bow. Her nose was nice enough, he supposed—he had come across attractive noses and noses he'd rather not look at, and hers seemed fairly normal. Pert, he supposed, because it was small, with a straight bridge. He himself happened to have a small bump on his bridge, something he was rather self-conscious about.

He put his arms behind her back and knees, lifting her. He was relieved that she wasn't too heavy—he once had to carry an intoxicated Sasuke back from the pub and it wasn't an experience he wanted to relive. She had long hair, he noticed—an unremarkable brown color, and not very thick, but with a gentle wave that he thought he liked in girls.

Speaking of, was she girl or woman? He found it slightly hard to tell. He didn't think she was as old as him, but he wasn't sure. She appeared to be no more than twenty or so years old, give or take a little.

Kakashi felt slightly overwhelmed. Once he brought her back, what would he do with her? Try and find out where she came from? Let her stay and rest for a while? Where had she come from? A ship wreck, perhaps—but did that explain why she was as naked as a newborn?

He shook his thoughts from his head and decided that he needed to get Sakura. Or Tsunade, but Tsunade tended to be busy with other things, so her apprentice was a decent second.

He finally made it back up the cliffside—a treacherous climb, if he did say so himself, and a lot harder while trying to balance an unconscious girl in his arms. He struggled back to the house, as the winds were picking up, and made it to the door with some effort. He fumbled with the door handle and, with a sigh of frustration, banged on the wooden door, praying that Sasuke would answer.

Sasuke did, opening the door. He was wrapped in a blanket, blinking owlishly. "That was faster than I expected—" he began, and then his eyes fell to the young woman limp in Kakashi's arms. His eyes narrowed and his mouth opened a little in surprise. To Kakashi's mild shame and irritation, the first question was "What the hell did you do to her?"

"I didn't  _do_  anything," Kakashi replied defensively, stepping onto the placemat. "Here, take her and put her on the couch. I'll go get some towels." He handed the girl gently to his tenant, who took her curiously.

"Wait, so what happened? Where did you—WHY IS SHE NAKED."

"Did you look at her?" Kakashi growled from the bathroom as he dug towels out of a basket.

"Your damned coat fell off! WHY IS SHE NAKED?"

"That's just how I found her! Here, since you've already undressed her—"

"That's not fair, she was naked and you know it—"

"— _You_  can do the honors of getting Sakura over here," finished Kakashi. "I'll try to get her dry. Oh, go get some of your clothes while you're at it."

" _My_  clothes?"

"She's closer to your size anyway, don't you think?" Yes, the last comment was a bit of a jab at Sasuke, but at the moment the librarian could care less. He was too busy trying not to notice the body of the young woman on his couch. He tried to approach his task with a clinical mind. It helped a little.

He finished drying her off and gently slipped her into the old shirt Sasuke had given him. He frowned at the breeches. "Really?"

"You asked for my clothes. Do you think I have dresses and skirts? No. I have shirts and breeches and stockings," Sasuke said with a dirty glance in Kakashi's direction. "Sorry."

Kakashi waved it off and murmured, "No,  _I'm_  sorry—I'm feeling a bit snappy and overwhelmed. It's really not your fault."

Satisfied with the apology, Sasuke donned his coat and left to go get Sakura, who—if Kakashi was correct—would be at the hospital by now.

With a sigh, Kakashi put the blanket Sasuke had left on the chair over the girl, draping it over her frail frame. He sat looking at her for a moment, wondering just what he had gotten himself into, and then decided that it would be a good time to drink that tea he'd been making.

Sakura finished her examination and called Kakashi and Sasuke back into the small living room. "I've checked her vitals and she seems to be all right, but her body's weak and seems starved for nutrients. Give her this—" she pulled from her healer's apron a few white envelopes, most likely with some kind of powder inside, "—in her food for two weeks. This should be enough to last you. In this powder are crushed nutrients and minerals that the body needs to be healthy. Until she can get it from her diet, she needs supplements. As soon as Sasuke came to the medical center saying you'd found a girl on the beach, I figured she wouldn't be in the best of health physically."

"You think?" came Sasuke's voice from the kitchen area. Sakura peered past Kakashi's shoulder and shot the boy an icy glare.

"I  _mean_ , it was likely that she wouldn't have proper nourishment." Sakura's voice had become very clinical, a sign that she was controlling her temper.

"Thank you, Sakura," said Kakashi, smiling faintly as he took the packets from her. Then he stopped. "Wait, put this in her food for—wait, you think she'll be with me for two weeks?"

"I don't see why not," Sakura said with a shrug.

"How would it look for a helpless girl to be living in the house with two unmarried males?"

"Ah," she murmured, letting her breath out in a hiss. "Yes, that is a tight spot." She tapped her finger against the bridge of her nose as she thought. "What if she's a family friend?"

"She's Sasuke's cousin," Kakashi suggested.

"Did someone say my name?" came the voice from the kitchen, this time sounding like the mouth was filled with food.

"That could work," agreed Sakura with a smile.

Sasuke poked his head out of the kitchen with a suspicious look. "Yes, I'm sure I heard my name. What are you two talking about in—"

He didn't finish, for at that moment the young woman on the couch sat up weakly and opened her eyes.


	2. Speaking: Not Always With the Mouth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one learns a language this fast. I know. Bear with me. We have to keep the plot moving at a decent pace.

They were all very still, waiting for each other to react. The only sounds were the crackling fire and the pouring rain, creating a general hush over the four.

Sakura made the first move and went hesitantly to the girl's side, kneeling on the floor. "Hello," she said gently, "I'm Sakura. I won't hurt you. Can you tell me your name?"

The girl opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. A thin hand went to her throat and she winced as if in pain, but not quite—it was more a grimace of sorrow.

"Does your throat hurt?" questioned Sakura, but the girl shook her head. She pointed at her throat and shook her head.

"You can't speak?" This was met with a nod.

Sakura sat back on her heels, looking unsure. "Can you write? What I mean is, could you write out what you want to say—perhaps with a quill and parchment?"

The young woman shook her head. Sakura's brows furrowed. "Then how do you communicate?"

The girl made helpless gestures, her expression almost frustrated, but mostly sad.

Sakura sighed heavily. "I hate when this kind of thing happens," she murmured. The girl looked mildly upset so the teenaged medic quickly revised her statement. "It's not that I hate you, I just…these kinds of situations are frustrating on all the parties involved, yes?"

The girl shrugged as if to say she'd never been in this situation.

Sakura ran a hand through her damp hair and sighed again, turning to Kakashi. "That," she said, pointing at the silver-haired man, "is Hatake Kakashi, and he found you on the beach. This is his home."

"The clothes are mine, though," said Sasuke, who had been curious enough to emerge from the kitchen and come into the living room, a somewhat dry look on his face, as if already bored with the whole affair.

The young woman faced Kakashi and Sasuke and tilted her head in thanks. Kakashi got a good look at her eyes—they were a soft, trustworthy green, like a well-worn favorite shirt. They were surprisingly…human. Kakashi had almost been expecting eyes out of a fairly tale he would pick up from the library, large and luminous and fawnlike.

"What can we call you?" asked Sasuke, then remembered. "Oh…oh. Don't answer that. We'll pick a name for you, how about, just something to call you until you can communicate?"

She looked hesitant, but nodded.

"Kakashi," said Sasuke as the librarian gave him a surprised look.

"Why me?"

"You found her."

"She's not a lost puppy I can just give a name to."

"Think of it as a nickname."

Kakashi fumbled for a moment, then finally suggested, "Manami."

Sakura and Sasuke looked to the girl, gauging her reaction. She just shrugged, looking mildly uncomfortable at all the attention. Kakashi didn't blame her—he hated being the center of attention.

Manami, he then noticed, looked exhausted. She settled back on the couch, looking for all the world like she just wanted to sleep.

Kakashi looked to Sakura. "Will you tell Naruto that I won't be in today? I'd better stay here and keep an eye on her."

Sakura nodded and Sasuke looked concerned. "I should be at the bakery…"

Kakashi always knew what time it was. "Yes, you're late."

Sasuke swore and rushed to his room to get his better pair of breeches and apron.

Sakura looked back to the girl on the couch, who was now drifting off to sleep. "Don't forget the powder. Try to get her to eat something within the next two hours or so. I wish we had some way to talk to her…"

Kakashi already knew a solution to that.

* * *

Manami started crying when Kakashi gave her the fish he'd cooked, god knows why. It completely baffled him. Everyone in this town had fish somewhere in their diet, but evidently she did not. You'd have thought he was trying to feed her a member of her family the way she was going on. It was a noiseless cry, but a panicked cry, like she was horrified.

"What do you eat?" he murmured in confusion, finally settling on trying to give her bread. She acted like she had no idea what it was, just holding it and staring at it. Kakashi sighed and broke off a piece of the soft, spongy bread and pulled down his mask just enough to pop it in his mouth. "You  _eat_  it, Manami. It's bread."

She gave him an unusual look, then slowly put some in her mouth. After chewing a bit, she decided she liked it and ate with more vigor, devouring the small slice ravenously. Kakashi added the nutrient powder to the next slice he gave her and she ate without question, too hungry to care.

After her hunger and thirst was sated, Kakashi sat in front of her on a small stool. He could see from the firelight that she had a smattering of bronze freckles across her nose and cheeks, something he didn't often see in adults.

"Look," he said to Manami, placing a book in front of her. She stared at it blankly. "You said you couldn't write so I don't assume you can read—"

But she nodded. He raised his eyebrows. Now, that didn't make sense. She could read but she couldn't write? He supposed he should count the fact that she  _could_  read as something of a blessing, for it made his job much easier. "This book can teach you to talk with your hands."

Manami stared for a second, then her eyes widened a little. She looked at Kakashi with a new energy in her eyes, opening the book and examining it, flipping through pages.

"I've already learned it," Kakashi told her, "so I'll be able to understand you. Sakura will probably know it because she may have learned it for her medical studies. Some other people may too, and depending on how long you stay, some people may end up learning it just by watching you."

Manami held up six fingers.

Kakashi gave her a puzzling glance. "Six? Six what? Days? Weeks? Months? Ye—" But she had nodded at "months".

Kakashi's eyes went wide. "Really."

Manami began flipping through the book, searching. She came to a word list and scanned it, making motions with her fingers and hands.

_Search for person._

"You're looking for someone?" questioned Kakashi. "Who?"

 _Mother_ , she signed after a moment of searching.

* * *

Manami possessed a quick mind, Kakashi learned, as she was memorizing the hand talking with surprising speed. By the time Sasuke got back that evening, she was forming sentences on her own, but had a limited knowledge to what she'd already memorized and was still very much dependent on the book. Nonetheless, he was impressed.

Sasuke saw her sign a greeting at him and misinterpreted, informing Kakashi that she was having a fit. Kakashi looked up from his book as he sat on a chair near the fireplace and informed Sasuke in turn that she wasn't having conniptions; she was saying hello to him with her hands, and if he'd like to learn how she was doing it, he'd have to ask Manami for her instruction book. The librarian saw curiosity spark in the dark haired teen's eyes. Sakura and Naruto, Kakashi knew, when presented something that fascinated them, would chase it. Sasuke would hang back and feign disinterest, but in reality he was infatuated with knowledge and learning. It was one of the things that endeared him to Kakashi—he would pretend not to be interested but he was an excellent listener, and Kakashi loved to teach.

The boy unceremoniously plunked a basket on the lap of the girl on the couch, causing her to start a little. She gave him a quizzical look.

"They're pastries," he said in his bored voice, picking up a cream-cheese filled roll sprinkled with sugar. "Y'know? They're sweet. You…eat them." He narrowed his eyes at her blatant confusion and shook his head, saying, "You've never had these? They're good. They taste good, I mean. Where are you from?"

Manami hesitated, then gestured vaguely at the window. Sasuke and Kakashi looked up simultaneously and only saw the ocean. "Uh," said Sasuke, trying to remember the scant geography he'd learned from Naruto, who'd always loved that kind of thing, "…the Water Country? The Mist Kingdom is over there, right?"

Manami looked mildly uncomfortable and shifted her legs underneath the blanket.

"We're not enemies with them, are we?" Sasuke questioned, looking over his shoulder at Kakashi, who in turn shook his head, replying "Not necessarily."

Sasuke nodded briefly, turning once again to Manami. He looked at the book she was holding, then without warning snatched it from her and began flipping through it.

Manami, indignant at having her book snatched right from her hands, gave clipped and quick signs for  _What doing?_

"She's not too pleased that you took that from her," informed Kakashi.

"Look, eat your pastries and let me have it for a while," murmured Sasuke, already practicing small signs with one hand. Kakashi recognized "Hello" and "How are you".

Manami refocused on the pastries in front of her and hesitantly picked up the cream cheese roll. She glanced at Kakashi, as if asking permission and he shrugged. "Well, he got them for you. It's only polite to try them."

Manami took a bite and paused, letting the taste sink in, then chewed slowly, growing excitement on her face. Kakashi watched with amusement. From the way she acted, you would think she'd never tasted sugar before in her life.

 _Maybe she hasn't. Maybe she's from a poor area of the Mist._  Kakashi closed his book as his internal clock told him it was time to get ready for bed. He got up slowly, stretching, and then realized he had a problem to address: sleeping arrangements.

"Manami," he said, "I don't think I have anywhere for you to sleep…um, here, I'll take the couch and you can have my bed—"

Manami shook her head and reached for her book. Sasuke made an angry huff when she snatched out from under his nose. She worked her way through it, trying to find the words she wanted, then said,  _No. Not mine to take._

"The couch can't be very comfortable."

Flip, flip, flip.  _It's okay._

Kakashi gave her a long look, then sighed. "I guess it's lucky you're small," he muttered, going over to a small chest by the fireplace and pulling out another blanket and a few pillows. "Here, these are clean."

 _They smell nice,_  she signed after a few moments of thumbing through the book.

"That smell is cedar. It's what the chest is made out of. It comes off on the blankets," he informed her, helping her stand as he made a makeshift bed of his couch.

This time it took her a little longer to sign, and he had to stay focused to get all of what she wanted to say.  _It's not just the soft things. Whole house smells nice. More smells here than my home._

Kakashi vaguely thought that she never exactly said where she was from.

* * *

Kakashi was faced with a dilemma.

He'd been home from the library for three days now, entrusting Naruto to take care of things. He trusted Naruto, but a creeping suspicion in the back of his mind told him that to stay away from his beloved library any longer would mean that he'd go back to find it razed to the ground.

Manami had a healthier glow to her face now that gave her a far more pleasant countenance—she'd had the unhealthy pallor of an invalid only a few days before but there was a new radiance to her. She had a nice smile, Kakashi realized. Shy, to be sure, but pleasant. She was attractive enough, but no great beauty by any standards. In fact, to some she could be considered…plain. It was almost a disappointment to Kakashi, who'd read wonderful novels about a lonesome hero rescuing a beautiful woman that he'd fall madly in love with. (Kakashi supposed he had a few more years where he could be considered a "lonesome hero" and not a "lonesome pervert.") Still, she possessed a certain force of gaze and bearing every so often that he could look at with appreciation. He wondered if she had a lover back wherever she was from.

He considered trying to set her up with Sasuke, then realized that he had too much time on his hands if his mind was wandering so far.

It was time to get back to work.

* * *

Taking Manami to the library was reminiscent of dragging a reluctant toddler around, only Manami handled it without the tantrums or poutiness a child would assume. Initially, she seemed terrified of the most unusual things, like horses ( _Really?_  Kakashi had thought when she'd balked upon seeing Prince Orochimaru and his horses strutting through town,  _A horse isn't going to eat you alive_ ), but it was soon covered up by frantic curiosity as she signed energetically at him to ask what things were.

"Did you spend your life locked in a closet?" Kakashi had asked with incredulity when she had marveled over a fork and attempted to comb her hair with it. "It's like you have the mentality of a three-year-old."

It was just teasing, though—she was blazing ahead with her mastery of learning the hand language, a sure sign of either keen intelligence, unwavering determination, or both. Kakashi was inclined to think it was both. Her sentences were still choppy, but that was the nature of learning it. With studying, he knew, she would become more detailed and coherent.

Kakashi was—to his horror—late in going to the library because Manami wanted to know what a flower was. He'd quickly shown her the sign, resisting the urge to check his timepiece, and urged her, "We can come back later to get it for you, but I have to open the library."

She'd looked at him with pleading eyes.  _Please?_

"What do you want to do with it?"

_I want. Never seen anything like it._

Kakashi wasn't entirely sure what to make of this whole situation.  _How can she not know what a flower is? They're everywhere._

He'd picked the flower for her and tucked it behind her ear, resisting the urge to just throw her over his shoulder and sprint to the library to get there on time.

He arrived at 7:03. Kakashi was three minutes late, a record time for him.

It was a record he'd never wanted to set.

Manami had sat herself at a table and had continued studying from her book, silently making signs, narrowing her eyes every so often, as if trying to visualize what the gestures were before she did them.

Kakashi luckily opened the library on time—he knew he'd possibly have a conniption if he'd opened it any later—and true to form, Naruto arrived fifteen minutes later, muffin in his mouth.

"Hello, Naruto," Kakashi said, masking the weariness and relief he felt. Weariness because he'd been away from his comforting schedule for so long; relieved because he seemed to be getting back into it.

"Hey, 'Kashi," Naruto muttered, spitting a bit of muffin crumbles out. Kakashi patiently swept them off the counter with the back of his hand. "Where've ya been?"

Kakashi nodded his head in Manami's direction. Naruto did a double take at the young woman at the table, his mouth falling open. Muffin crumbs landed on the floor. Kakashi, with a little less patience, said, "Naruto, that's disgusting."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to gape at her, but she's pretty," said Naruto, apparently misinterpreting what Kakashi meant. Kakashi didn't care if he stared at her, but he didn't want him doing it with his mouth open.

"Sasuke said you had a girl with you," Naruto said in a stage whisper. "Said she was deaf."

Kakashi, out of amusement and curiosity, decided to let Naruto continue believing that. It was just like Sasuke to feed Naruto a lie just to see what would happen. "She's getting fairly good at the hand language."

Naruto was fascinated with her in the way a small child is with a butterfly. "Wow! Can I go say hi to her?"

"I don't see why not."

Naruto went over to the table where Manami was ardently absorbing knowledge and sat down, eyes wide. He put a hand on the page she was looking at, causing her to start and jerk her head to look up at him in surprise. Her expression turned to one of expectation, as if asking  _Can I help you?_

Naruto seemed a little unsure about how to approach her. "Hi," he said in a loud voice, waving. "I'm Naruto." (Here he pointed at himself and then scribbled "Naruto" on the top of her book. She seemed alarmed at his behavior. Kakashi didn't blame her.)

She looked at Kakashi with distressed eyes.  _He talks as if I'm stupid._

Kakashi, as not to ruin Naruto's idea that the girl was deaf, signed back,  _Well, he's the stupid one, so treat him gently and keep in mind that he's a bit of a moron. He's relatively harmless._

He wasn't sure if Manami knew all his signs but she got the general idea. She turned to Naruto cautiously and fumbled over her signs, trying to do something Naruto would get. She pointed at herself.  _I'm—_

She cut off, and Kakashi realized that she didn't have a sign for "Manami". Hmmm, he'd have to think about that one.

Naruto spoke slowly and clearly, making appropriate hand gestures with each word. "It's okay," he began (making the cheesy a-ok sign with his thumb and forefinger). "I know"—he pointed to his head—"that you can't hear me." He shook his head as he pointed to his ear.

Manami's apprehensive look turned into one of confusion and she threw a suspicious glance at Kakashi. She furtively signed,  _What?_

Kakashi feigned confusion and shrugged.

She tried to sign at Naruto,  _I can hear fine_ , but the boy didn't know this language. He looked to Kakashi and said, "Well, I know she's deaf, but is she stupid too? She doesn't seem to get a word I'm saying."

There was a long, awkward pause as Manami looked at the mildly-smiling blond with wide eyes.

"Oh yeah," said Kakashi finally, "she's just mute. She's not deaf."

The smile on Naruto's face faded just a tiny bit and seemed a little more forced as he said in clipped tones, "But. Sasuke. Told. Me. She. Was. Deaf."

"Yes, well, we both know how Sasuke is such a tease."

A mental image was summoned by both Kakashi and Naruto of the scowling, sarcastic baker. Well…maybe "tease" wasn't the right word; more like "experimental, compulsive liar" was. The thought flitted briefly through Kakashi and Naruto's minds, followed by two separate thoughts in two separate minds:  _I'm going to kill him_  and  _I'll thank him later._

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is always appreciated.


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